NFL:Is There Anywhere to Watch the 2014 NFL Superbowl for Free?

Contributor

Hi,
So, believe it or not, my Mrs has made plans for us on the night of the "Big Game" aka the Superbowl. We currently have AT&T U-Verse in the home, so I'm going to try the U-Verse App that will supposedly let me watch the Superbowl while not in the home connected to my WiFi over a LTE connection. In the event this does not work for some reason, does anyone know if the NFL is streaming the game anywhere for free or low charge? When I lived overseas, you could typically find the odd site that would stream the Superbowl, but the last year I was there, it appeared as though ICE shut down the majority of those sites.

Super Moderator, Chief Content Editor

Contributor

@Fringe, I was able to convince my wife that we should host an event vice going to the "non-football" event she had previously planned! Is there a way to do FTOA on a mobile or tablet? Or were you just referring to a setup we could do on a regular TV with the right antenna to get the local Fox affiliate?

Contributor

Hi,
So, believe it or not, my Mrs has made plans for us on the night of the "Big Game" aka the Superbowl. We currently have AT&T U-Verse in the home, so I'm going to try the U-Verse App that will supposedly let me watch the Superbowl while not in the home connected to my WiFi over a LTE connection. In the event this does not work for some reason, does anyone know if the NFL is streaming the game anywhere for free or low charge? When I lived overseas, you could typically find the odd site that would stream the Superbowl, but the last year I was there, it appeared as though ICE shut down the majority of those sites.

Super Moderator, Chief Content Editor

@Fringe, I was able to convince my wife that we should host an event vice going to the "non-football" event she had previously planned! Is there a way to do FTOA on a mobile or tablet? Or were you just referring to a setup we could do on a regular TV with the right antenna to get the local Fox affiliate?

I was referring to a traditional CRT or HDTV using an antenna. To my knowledge, there isn't a legal way to resend it to a tablet or other device without breaking NFL Copyright rules - and they are well known for going after violaters.

Contributor

Jim,
Gotcha. Yeah, I guess the "rebroadcast without permission" deal would get one on this front if you put it up somehow where it could be seen online by others. I definitely remember seeing folks get full sites taken down for putting up NFL content a few years back and such.

Jim, Aereo will be resending it to all its subscribers, and so far they are legal. Maybe that will change in April. The difference between Aereo and those bar owners who lost suits may be nothing more than caliber of lawyers hired.

By the way, Aereo can't keep up with the demand in New York. No joke -- they ran out of dime sized antennas! :dizzy:

The NFL isn't even a player in the case (pun intended). The copyright belongs to whomever runs the cameras. The NFL has no standing, though I could imagine them trying to claim standing if the broadcasters happen to lose in the Spring Supreme Court case.

The only real recourse for the NFL is to deny a contract to any interested broadcaster. Then they can try streaming exclusively on cable or the internet.